Chapter 5
The Pulse Under Her Fingers
Adrian made it seven steps before his body betrayed him.
He had dismissed the doctor. Dismissed Celeste. Dismissed the nurse hovering with professional fear near the corridor. He had not dismissed Elena, which made her the only person close enough when his knee failed and the hallway tilted under him.
She caught his arm.
For one second, all the power in the Marlowe house became weight against her shoulder.
"Don't," he said through his teeth.
"Fall?" Elena tightened her grip. "That's not a helpful directive."
His mouth twitched and then stopped, as if even that hurt.
The hallway was empty because Mara had made it empty. Elena was learning that Mara's silence could mean loyalty, warning, or both.
"Bedroom or hospital bed?"
"Study."
"You're barely standing."
"Then walk carefully."
She should have called for the nurse. Instead she slid under his arm and let him choose how much weight to give her. Not all. Never all. But enough that she felt the heat of his body through his suit and the effort it took him not to lean too much.
The study was twelve feet away and felt longer than the wedding contract.
Inside, Adrian sank into the chair behind the desk and shut his eyes for a beat too long.
Elena stood in front of him and became aware of something she had not wanted to notice: touching him was starting to feel less like accident and more like evidence.
His pulse had been fast under her fingers. Human. Angry. Alive.
"Your mother threatened Noah," she said.
His eyes opened.
"Your brother."
"Medical student. Twenty-two. Too honest for this family."
"No one touches him."
"You can't promise that from a chair."
He looked at her then. Really looked. Not at the ring. Not at the wife he had been given. At Elena, who had just told him the first honest thing spoken in that room.
"Give me your hand," he said.
She did not move.
He set his own hand palm-up on the desk and waited.
The choice was absurdly small. That made it worse.
Elena touched two fingers to his wrist.
His pulse jumped.
The monitor near the door answered with a sharp, traitorous beep.
Adrian looked from the monitor to her hand.
"That," he said quietly, "is going to be a problem."